Calgary's new tallest tower

I find it interesting (and slightly disappointing) the these towers will not have any residential component to them. Imagine the views (and price points) that a 56th floor Penthouse with 360 degree views of the City would offer. Maybe just a dream but I would personally love to see some architecturally significant, ultra-luxury high-rise condos in our city where a tourist could point at a picture on a postcard and say "There! I want to live there!"~CR

CALGARY — Council unanimously approved zoning for a twin-skyscraper project that will give downtown Calgary a new tallest building — “a very big jewel,” one alderman said Monday.

Brookfield Office Properties has planned 56- and 42-storey office towers on the downtown block where the Bay parkade stands and where the Calgary Herald’s former building is being demolished.

“We’re getting an entire city block built right on the LRT, and it’s going to be an extraordinary development,” Ald. Druh Farrell said.

The first tower, a glass box with corners that curve and taper inward toward its crown, will stand 11 metres taller than The Bow.

Some aldermen were uneasy about the future loss of short-stay parking when the parkade gets demolished for the second phase, although Brookfield does plan to add some replacement parking in its own office parkade.

The underground parkade at 225 Sixth Ave. S.W. will be designed with several special features for cyclists. Brookfield will offer cyclists their own entrance/exit ramp, as well as storage lockers, showers and a bike repair facility for riders.

About three per cent of workers in Brookfield’s other Calgary towers — Bankers Hall, Suncor Energy Centre and Fifth Avenue Place — commute on two wheels.

Only about 15 per cent drive solo to work in the Brookfield buildings, Farrell said.